Plain Jane Glory
by lifesvs.reality
Summary: Modern Jarida. It's late one summer night in Burgess and earlier that day Merida got news that her brother Hamish was hit by a car and in the hospital. Worried for her, Jack, Hiccup, and Rapunzel came over to her apartment to cheer her up. They all fell asleep after eating pizza and binge watching Netflix in the living room. The fic picks up from Jack waking up to a noise. COMPLETE


**Modern one shot. I fell in love with this song called Big Black Car by Gregory Alan Isakov. I recommend you listen to it before reading this. After so much work on my other Jarida fic I needed something short and sweet that would give me something to fill the void. The idea is that it's late one summer night in Burgess and earlier that day she got news that her brother Hamish was hit by a car and in the hospital. Worried for her, Jack, Hiccup, and Rapunzel came over to her apartment to cheer her up. They all fell asleep after eating pizza and binge watching Netflix in the living room. The fic picks up from Jack waking up to a noise. Enjoy!**

Jack's eyes fluttered open at a soft melody. He groaned quietly and stretched out his sore muscles from sleeping on the stiff couch in Merida's apartment. Jack rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, looking around for the music that was playing.

Hiccup was still passed out on the floor, his head resting on top on the pizza box that may or may not be empty, snoring loudly. Meanwhile his prosthetic leg leaned against the loveseat that Rapunzel silently dozed in. Merida had been curled into a ball at the end of the couch Jack was laying on, but now she was nowhere to be found.

The soft music playing started out with instrumental but now Jack could make out some words if he listened closely.

 _You were a photograph, I was a kid_

 _I sat with an ear close, just listening_

Jack swung his legs over and stood up. He decided that the music would inevitably lead him to Merida since he knew she loved this song. It would be easier to find her anyway, considering the other option was to go back to sleep, which he didn't think he could manage already being so awake and distracted by both Merida's absence and Hiccups snores. Mainly the prior.

 _I was there when the rain tapped her way down your face_

 _You were a miracle, I was just holding your space_

He walked quietly out of the living room and into the kitchen where the sound seemed to be coming from. The kitchen was bare of any clues except for the balcony door wide open. Jack sighed and walked closer.

This, aside from beating an object past point of no return, was usually how Merida unwinded, but Jack knew this was more serious, knowing she usually only pulverize something when she was angry. Only when she was sad did she need time by herself, distancing herself from everything, or just listening to music.

 _Well, time has a way of throwing it all in your face,_

 _The past she is haunted, the future it laced_

Jack walked cautiously to the open door of the balcony and sure enough there was Merida, here phone playing music and her body shuddering slightly as she leaned over the rail.

 _Heartbreak you know, drives a big black car_

 _I swear I was in the back seat, just minding my own_

Jacks jaw dropped a little into a worried frown. He stepped forward and extended an arm, but stopped in his tracks, pulling his hand back just an inch from Merida. She didn't know he was there and maybe it was better that way. He went to retreat back to the living room but the floor boards creaked beneath his feet. He cringed and like he expected, Merida heard. So much for being discrete.

 _And through the glass, the corn crows come like rain_

 _They won't stay, they won't stay_

 _For too long now_

Jacks jaw fell again when they made eye contact. He couldn't see much of her under the star light, but he could tell her eyes were swollen. Merida must have realized because she sniffed and wiped her eyes, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

"Ah' didn' hear ya,"

 _This could be all that we know_

 _Of love and all_

"Right," Jack said quietly. He cleared his throat and tried to say louder "I didn't want to…" but he trailed off. She didn't need an explanation.

 _Well you were a dancer, I was a rag_

 _The song in my head, well, was all that I had_

Merida's head fell to her feet. Jack purse his lips and walked towards her, wrapping her into a hug an resting his chin on top of her head.

"I know," he soothed "I know,"

 _Hope was a letter I never could send_

 _Love was a country, we couldn't defend_

Merida shuddered again "I don't know if I could live with myself if- if,"

"Shh," Jack cut her off "It wasn't your fault, there was no way you couldn't have prevented it,"

"That's exactly tha' point, I- I should've been there-"

"There was no way," Jack said sternly, but at the same time soft and comforting, "I know what you mean though… if it were Emma," he sighed, not being able to finish.

 _And through the carnival, we watch them go, round and round_

 _All we knew of home was just a sunset and some clowns_

"But- but-" Merida stuttered into Jacks chest.

Jack squeezed her tighter and pressed his nose into her hair, shushing her, while taking in her smell. Her breaths were short but he tried to make his long and controlled, and swayed slowly, braking into a half-hearted slow dance, to calm her.

 _Well, you were a magazine, I was a plane Jane_

 _Just walking the sidewalks, all covered in rain_

Merida leaned her head against Jacks chest, listening to his heart beat for the moment. She noticed it getting faster and looked up at him, leaning her forehead against his. He looked at her intently with sad and tired eyes half open, her doing the same. Merida lifted her head to get a better look at his eyes so close up, but they were slowly closing. They both eased out of the slow sway as their faces got closer and closer.

Merida's eyes closed heavily and her lips parted slightly. Jack pressed his nose softly against hers and looked at her perfect parted lips with the narrow slits of his eyes. He closed them and leaned in.

 _Love to just get into some of your stories_

 _Me and all of my, Plain Jane Glory's_

His lips pressed tenderly down onto hers, and he held them there for a breathless, blissful moment, and she too seemed to be taken away before they parted. Merida's head fell against his chest once again and Jack took his place by resting his chin on top of her hair, and they picked up where they left off, slowly swaying and spinning to the fading song underneath the star light.

 _Just me and all of my Plain Jane Glory_

 **The End**


End file.
